LA Clippers and Vision To Learn Team Up to Help Inglewood Students Get Free Glasses

Today, the LA Clippers Foundation and Vision To Learn launched their new partnership to provide glasses to every child in the Inglewood School District, from pre-school to high school, who needs them. The LA Clippers’ sponsorship of the entire Inglewood School District is the first of its kind in the nation.

The tip-off event at Inglewood High School featured LA Clippers players Paul Pierce (an Inglewood High graduate) and Chris Paul, as well as radio personality Big Boy. 60 students received glasses at Tuesday’s event, and all Inglewood students who need glasses will receive them by the end of the school year.

“Our groundbreaking partnership with the LA Clippers Foundation allows us to provide free eye care and glasses to every child in Inglewood, a community of 111,000 people,” said Vision To Learn Chair and Founder Austin Beutner. “To our knowledge this is the first effort of it’s kind anywhere in the nation in a community this size.”

“In the Inglewood School District, eye care access is hard to come by,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “I’ve worked to provide vision care for pre-school students through First 5 LA and I am thrilled that Vision To Learn’s program will help Inglewood children as young as 3 years old.”

“California is becoming a leader in addressing student vision health with the help of Vision To Learn,” said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson. “Dr. Vincent Matthews and I know have seen first-hand that students with impaired vision can struggle to read a book or see the board. By getting kids eye exams and glasses, we’re able to change these outcomes.”

“We are honored to support this pioneering opportunity that helps fill a need in the Inglewood community,” said LA Clippers President Gillian Zucker. “Good eyesight is key to every player’s success on the court and Vision To Learn’s cost-effective, scalable model makes good eyesight possible for thousands of children from low-income families.”

“We are beyond grateful for the generosity of Vision To Learn and the LA Clippers Foundation,” said Inglewood Mayor Jim Butts. “This is an exciting day for our students who will now have the opportunity to see clearly and perform better in class at no cost—in time or money—to their families.”

Vision-To-Learn-at-LAClippers-game-photo-by-Varon-P-Bucks

As a result of the LA Clippers Foundation-Vision To Learn partnership, every Inglewood School District student will receive an eye screening by school nurses and Rotary Club volunteers. Students who do not pass the screening will receive a free follow up eye exam and free glasses from Vision To Learn. This project would not be possible without the volunteer efforts of the Inglewood Rotary.

Vision To Learn is a non-profit organization that provides free eye exams and free glasses to children in low-income communities. Vision To Learn’s mobile clinics, staffed with licensed optometrists, visit schools and youth service programs and have examined nearly 50,000 kids and provided over 37,000 pairs of glasses free of charge to children in California, Delaware and Hawaii since 2012. Of the kids served by Vision To Learn, 89 percent live in poverty and 87 percent are kids of color.